Funds are requested for the purchase of a Model 43OA-03 Peptide Synthesizer system, a Model 151A Separation System and a Model 42OA-H3 Derivatizer/Amino Acid Analyzer system, all manufactured by Applied Biosystems. The equipment will form the basis of a Peptide Synthesis Core Facility which will provide synthetic peptides that are needed by a major user group of 24 investigators from 7 different departments for their NIH-funded research projects. The combined annual PHS grant support (direct costs) of these investigators is in excess of $4.7 million. The peptides are required for several types of investigation: (a) to generate sequence-directed polyclonal antibodies for identifying, and isolating proteins (b) for studies of structure-function relationships (c) as substrates for proteases and protein kinases (d) to determine the properties of molecules that are known or expected to have defined biological activities, or are variants of such molecules (e) to investigate the properties of sequences that are expected to have specific folding characteristics and (f) for identifying antibodies specific for selected epitopes. The separation system is required for purifying peptides and the analyzer for characterizing the products of the system. The analyzer will also be used to perform amino acid analyses to support a protein sequencing facility that was partially funded by DRR. The system will be operated by a technician with experience in protein and peptide separation and analysis and will be partially supported by institutional funds as well as by charges to users.